Nik Intan said she had been dreaming of winning the award for the past five years as she considered it the ultimate batik competition.

"We are ecstatic. I was in tears when our names were announced. We couldn't believe what we heard," she said after receiving the prize during the event at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday.

She said their batik creation themed Khatrageous was about creating a bridge between the ancient world and the modern world, adding that it was a combination of the word Khat, which is an Islamic calligraphy, and the word outrageous.

"The inspiration came from a duit raya packet that my children received from one of the houses they visited," she said.

Nik Intan said they did not view the usage of Khat in their designs as taboo although they did foresee that some might view it as controversial.

"From a survey we conducted, many people were receptive to the idea as long we stay away from using the name Allah and Prophet Muhammad," she said.